SHIELD Cafe
by wishgrantingfactories
Summary: Jemma's fallen for a socially awkward boy who can't decide his coffee order.


**Because I love cafe AUs and Fitzsimmons. **

****This will be a two shot I just don't know when I'm posting the second chapter.****

* * *

><p><span><strong>S.H.I.E.L.D. Cafe<strong>

The bell above the door twinkled softly, startling Jemma. The barista looked up from the counter and arched an eyebrow. Today had been a slow day and she wasn't really expecting many more customers. Her coworker, Skye, left an hour ago, leaving her to clear up on her own.

The boy walked in through the door, scanning the menu above the counter slowly. Jemma braced herself on the cashier, her palms holding her body upright. The boy spent two minutes looking though the menu, licking his lips occasionally and sighing as he shook his head.

"You know, there aren't many items written on the menu." Jemma spoke up, her thick British accent bringing the boy's attention to her. The brunet fumbled around with his wallet, obviously embarrassed by the barista's words. He swallowed thickly and Jemma tilted her head to the side, smirking at the boy.

"Do you want recommendations?" Jemma grinned at the blushing boy.

"I—yeah sure." He managed to spit out.

"Try our pumpkin spice latte." Jemma smiled at him and he nodded quickly, avoiding further embarrassment. The barista pulled a plastic cup from the stack and scribbled some things on it before turning back to the boy.

"Can I have your name?" Jemma scrunched her nose up. She didn't usually ask for customer's names unless the café got too crowded. Her only advantage now was that the brown-haired boy was way more awkward that her, so he might actually give her his name.

And she was right.

"Um, Fitz." He spelled it out for her as she wrote it down on the cup.

"What kind of name is Fitz?" Jemma stuck her tongue out at the boy and his eyes widened.

"Oh—my name's not really Fitz. I mean, it is Fitz but that's not my actual name." He shut his eyes exasperatedly. "I'm Leopold. But no one calls me that. Some call me Leo, not many but—"

Jemma stared at him, an amused smile playing on her lips.

"Thanks for the in-depth explanation, Leopold Fitz," Jemma laughed and went back to making his latte.  
>Fitz's cheeks tinged red as he tapped his foot on the clean polished cafe floor. The small shop quieted down and Fitz focused his line of sight on the working barista. He watched as the girl spun rather ungracefully, almost tripping over her own shoelaces as she prepared the drink. A dumb smile made its way on to his face as he watched the barista prepare his drink. Not three minutes later, Jemma placed the drink on the serving counter and Fitz stepped forward.<p>

He gave her a shy grin and sipped the drink. Jemma watched his facial expression as he swallowed. She cocked her head to the side, as if asking him if he liked it.

Fitz licked the froth off his lips and gave Jemma a cheeky grin.

"This is really good." He licked his lips again. Jemma noticed that habit five minutes after he stepped into the store. She smiled at him, feeling satisfied with herself. Fitz picked up his drink and his eyes flickered to Jemma's name tag on her apron.

"Thanks for this—" he paused. "_Jemma_." He slowly spoke, testing out her name rolling from his tongue for the first time. Jemma raised an eyebrow and smiled at him.

"Yeah well, see you Fitz." Jemma returned back into the kitchen as the boy left the cafe, his cheeks as hot as his drink.

* * *

><p>The following few days, Jemma always offered to let Skye leave first, just so she could have a chance of seeing the boy again alone. And she did. Fitz visits SHIELD cafe everyday at approximately 7pm, right when Jemma cleans up. And every night, Jemma recommends the boy a new drink.<p>

Of course, this wouldn't last. On the sixth night, Skye stood by the door, hands on her hips and mouth set into a thin line.

"What's with you, Simmons?" Skye furrowed her eyebrows. "You always grumble about me leaving early and these few days you've been practically chasing me away."

"Nothing's wrong, nothing at all shouldn't you be going now?" The thing Jemma hates most about herself is that she was a terrible liar. Anyone could tell if she were lying from just a few words she speaks. She shut her eyes, hoping that her acting classes would pay off. And when she opened them, Skye stood face to face with her, a grin on her face.

Jemma jumped back, her heart thumping as Skye laughed, clutching on to her stomach.

"_Bloody_ hell, Skye." Jemma breathed. The bell tinkled and Jemma's heart rate sped up again. It wasn't Fitz though, she was relieved.

An hour later, Skye still refused to leave and that's when the flustered British boy steps in.

Since then, Skye never stopped teasing Jemma about this.

Three months later, it became a routine. Fitz never fails to show up every evening at seven. And Jemma would prepare something for him, something that she chose. And the boy would always lick his lips and grin at the barista, complimenting her drinks.

In all honesty Jemma had fallen for Fitz a long time ago. But the boy always showed no or little interest. He's no good at emotions and feelings.

* * *

><p>On the hundredth day, Jemma decided that she had to be the one to reveal her feelings first. She didn't want to lose this relationship she had with this boy but if she wanted to take this further, she had to take the risk.<p>

Fitz came in promptly at 7:05pm. The soft tinkling of the bell brightened Jemma's face significantly. Jemma made him a drink, as usual. But this time, instead of writing his name on the cup, she wrote down her phone number.

Fitz said his thanks and left the shop without noticing the hurriedly scrawled numbers on the side of the cup. Jemma clasped her hands together, taking a deep breath and convincing herself that he would see the numbers.

That night, Jemma lay in bed quietly, her left hand grabbing on to her cell phone, waiting for it to light up. She almost fell asleep when the phone vibrated once in her loosening grip. Jemma's eyes snapped open as her hand quickly flew up. She unlocked her phone and smiled so wide at her screen her face might crack.

_He saw the number. _


End file.
